Heart Confirm James Hetfield Appearance, Full New ‘Beautiful Broken’ Album Details

Heart's 16th album, Beautiful Broken, has been officially announced and scheduled for a July 8 release. As suggested in May, Metallica's James Hetfield does indeed perform on the record, as part of a track listing that aims to bring "new life" to a selection of songs from the band's vaults.

Details of the new album have been expected for some time. Previously planned for a potential June release, Beautiful Broken's first audio snippet surfaced in April, courtesy of a social media update shared during final mixing sessions.

The press release from Heart's new label Concord Records also reveals that Beautiful Broken finds bandleaders Ann and Nancy Wilson revisiting seven cuts from their catalog while mixing in three new songs. "Those songs may have fallen through the cracks, in a way, because of where radio was at the time when they were first released," explained Ann. "Rediscovering those songs, I found ways they emotionally still speak to me."

"I felt these songs were poetic pieces that were lost in translation with the sounds of the '80s, which was harder and more digital," added Nancy. "We wanted to drape them in velvet, and make them shine."

Hetfield's contribution comes in the form of the title track — and first single — a new version of a song previously released as a bonus song from 2012's Fanatic. "It blows the previous version out of the water," said Nancy. "James just took the song on, and what he added was perfect with a bite and a rock accent." A portion of the new recording can be heard via the Beautiful Broken teaser, which you can check out above.